The “Right” Kind of Veteran

MoveOn.org announced today that Oliver Stone will direct a television commercial opposing the Iraq war. The commercial will be broadcast nationwide, financed by the vast wealth of the far left. It will star a veteran who will be selected through a contest on the MoveOn web site. Stone explains the project:

I decided to participate in this project because, as a veteran, I know that America needs to listen to our servicemen and women. They’ve been there and they know what’s really going on. They need to be part of this debate.

We’re all for veterans participating in the debate. On the left, though, it seems to depend on which veterans are doing the participating. When a group of veterans made a commercial supporting the Iraq war, the Chairman of the Democratic Party in Minnesota denounced them as “un-American,” and the Democratic Party campaigned to force the ad off the air.
Then there was Washington Post columnist William Arkin, who, when soldiers had the temerity to say on camera that they thought the Iraq war was worthy of support, denounced them as “mercenaries” with “ugly” opinions who enjoy “obscene amenities” in war zones, and ought to sit down and shut up.
It will be different, I suppose with the anti-war veteran in MoveOn’s commercial. For the left, he’ll be the “right” kind of veteran. The kind who has the right to say what he thinks.
At the Forum, a new poster called eagle adds:

Just look at the warm reception the Swift Boat Veterans got from the left…they obviously believe in giving veterans the opportunity to express their views…not!